


I'm Just a Faint Light in the Dark

by TheUpdogAcademy



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Sibling Diego Hargreeves, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Soft Diego Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22874314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUpdogAcademy/pseuds/TheUpdogAcademy
Summary: "Is there any way to silence that voice in your head that screams out to be the center of attention?" Number One scoffed at him.Klaus was about to say something he'd probably end up regretting, so he opted to bite his tongue instead and stared back at the large man in front of him before looking down at the floor.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 8
Kudos: 473





	I'm Just a Faint Light in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> So I had this canon-divervence hit me in the face out of nowhere and then I had to do something with it.
> 
> At least half of this is probably canon dialog, but there are differences! I tried to stay to the canon as closely as I could too.
> 
> Takes place at the bowling alley during the finale "The White Violin".

The destruction of the Academy at the hands of their not-so-ordinary sister had been so surreal in the moment. And not much time had passed before they all had to scramble away from the scene, still heavy with emotion. No time to properly grieve over the loss of Grace and Pogo.

By the time the Hargreeves siblings made it to the Super Star, their shock had been replaced by debate over how they should deal with Vanya. The end of the world was coming upon them and showed no signs of stopping.

Luther had pretty much settled on any means necessary to stop her.

After smacking him, Allison wrote out 'SHE'S OUR SISTER' on her notepad and held it up to him angrily.

"We're the only ones capable of stopping this." There was an unsettling casualness to Luther's words as he loomed over them. "We have a responsibility to Dad."

Diego glared daggers at him, barking back. "To Dad? No, I've heard enough about--"

"He sacrificed everything to bring us back together." Luther cut him off.

There's a brief moment before Five follows up on the topic, a maturity to him that they'd never get used to. "I'm with Luther on this one." He swallowed.

"We can't give her a chance to fight back." Five speaking matter-of-factly. "There are billions of lives at stake. We're past trying to save just one."

Ben made a face as he watched the discussion moving on without him, as always.

Klaus, having listened up to this point, chimed in. "Hey, you know, guys, uh...maybe I could help."

"Now is not the time." And of course Number One had to shut him down. Not even giving him a chance to have a say in the matter. Always deeming him unworthy.

That's when Diego stepped in. "No, let him finish." Two gave Four a proud and confident look. "He saved my life today."

Klaus saw the faintest smile play out on his brother's face as he stood, suddenly becoming the focal point of the discussion.

Ben held his hands out in disbelief. "Really?" Only Klaus being able to see and hear how offended his ghost-of-a-brother was.

Luther looked over at the medium. "Is that true?" He says with slight skepticism in his voice.

Klaus stole quick glances from his siblings, including Ben, before turning to Luther and spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah I did..." He hesitated, gesturing his GOODBYE hand in front of him. "...take credit for it."

Six kept his eyes on Klaus the whole time he spoke, feeling a little bit hopeful.

"In fact, the real hero...was Ben."

Ben side-eyed Luther just in time to see the disbelief setting in. Allison looked disappointed. Five looked annoyed. Diego just looked lost and confused.

Seemed about right.

Klaus sighed deeply. "Today...listen." He made an attempt to bat their skepticism away before continuing.

"Today, he punched me in the face." And he brought his hand up towards his jaw, gesturing in that theatrical manner he always liked to use when trying to make a point.

He took a few steps forward, turning back to face the rest of his family. Allison continued to watch from her spot, leaned up against the bar.

"And earlier at the house, he was the one who saved Diego's life...not me." Klaus looked undeniably confident at that moment, brows raised.

Diego crossed his arms over his chest. Silence settled between the siblings a moment before Luther's voice cut through again. "You are unbelievable, Klaus."

The doubt was radiating off of his biggest brother now, but Klaus wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"You want proof is that it?" He questioned as he reached over for a bowling ball, taking it and holding it firmly. "All right. I- I'll give you proof."

The Kraken stood next to him, watching his brother expectantly as he turned the ball around between his hands.

Klaus warned Ben beforehand. "All right, it's showtime, baby." He tossed it forward, right over the chairs and Five quickly moved to the side so as not to get hit by the heavy object.

"Catch!"

Ben held his hands out, only to be met with disappointment as the ball passed right through him, hitting the floor with a loud thud and rolled away.

Six looked disheartened.

Allison glowered at him and Luther immediately called him out with that condescending attitude he liked to use when he wanted to be in charge.

"Is there any way to silence that voice in your head that screams out to be the center of attention?" Number One scoffed at him.

Klaus was about to say something he'd probably end up regretting, so he opted to bite his tongue instead and stared back at the large man in front of him before looking down at the floor.

He stayed silent a moment and chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully before his legs started moving almost instinctively. Diego reached out for Klaus' shoulder a little too late, his brother having already worked his way passed Luther.

"Where do you think you're going?" The biggest of them questioned as he spun on him.

Klaus turned to Luther, a serious look on his face. "For some air."

Luther raised a brow. "So, you're giving up on this whole thing then? You're just going to run away, like you always do?"

Number Four shook his head. "No…" Klaus slowly stole a glance from each of his siblings as he spoke.

"I just...don't see the point." His infamous faux-smile made an appearance, accompanied by a shrug and a broken laugh.

He swallowed. "You guys can handle this. You don't need me here." Klaus waved his GOODBYE hand dismissively.

No one else spoke a word. They looked too shocked to speak.

"If you manage to stop the apocalypse, cool. Good on you!"

A beat. Pause.

"And if not..." He trailed off.

Klaus' eyes finally locked with Diego's. "At least I won't have to worry about burdening you all anymore." He throws his hands up theatrically. "Win-win!"

A somber, pained look shown in Klaus' eyes as he smiled faintly and Diego's chest tightened.

Without another word spoken, The Séance turned on his heel as he broke eye contact with the only sibling that hadn't outright judged him and exited through the doors.

It wasn't long before Diego followed suit, almost having brushed past his monster-of-a-brother. But One took hold of his shoulder, stopping him abruptly.

"You're leaving too?" He snapped.

Diego jerked away from Luther's grasp and took a step back to glare sharp daggers up at him.

" _I'm_ going to go find _our_ brother." The knife wielder jabbed Luther in the chest with a finger, growling. "YOU are going to stay here and work out a plan." His jaw clenched.

Two pushed past him then, purposely knocking into him with his shoulder. "You wanna be Number One, you better start acting like it!" Diego bit back loudly without turning, and disappeared through the doors.

Diego stepped out into the fresh air and took in a deep breath. Perhaps he needed the air too.

"Klaus!" The vigilante looked around, no signs of his brother.

"KLAUS?!" He tried again.

"Shit…" Diego bit out quietly, under his breath. "Where the hell did you go?"

He moved along to the side of the bowling alley and stopped next to the phone booth that stood near the wall. He attempted to swallow down his building anxiety and held his breath as he closed his eyes.

A part of him wanted to call home and ask Pogo or Grace to keep an eye out for his brother, until he remembered they were no longer around. Home, included. Diego swallowed down the sickness he felt suddenly.

A brief moment of silence passed before a faint voice caused his eyes to snap open. Diego whipped his head around toward the back of the building, brows raised.

He hovered a hand over one of the knives in his harness, slowly wrapping his fingers around the handle of it as he moved toward the end of the wall and stopped.

A one-sided conversation had been going on right behind the building and Diego was close enough to know that it was his brother, but only caught partial of what was being said before he approached. Diego let go of the knife handle and stayed hidden. He didn't want to intrude...not yet anyway.

"I can't keep doing this…" Klaus sighed.

He sat, back pressed against the wall, looking over at the empty space next to him.

"They don't believe me. I tried, okay. What more do you want from me?!" He whined.

A beat. Silence.

"I don't care, Ben." He flapped his hand to shoo him away. "Go."

Another short lived silence.

Four furrowed his brows and ground his teeth. "Just GO!" Biting out the last word almost regretfully. But he can't take it back now.

"The world's ending anyway…" Klaus mumbled to himself as he hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face against them.

Diego couldn't hear what he assumed was Ben's side of the conversation, but that didn't make it any less painful to hear just Klaus' end, especially with the hurt in his voice. He sounded like a wounded animal.

Silence lingered again. Ben had probably left.

He wasn't sure what to make of all this. And before Two knew it, he had rounded the corner, slowly planting himself down next to his brother.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by the ex-addict and Klaus lifted his head to look over at the sudden presence.

"Ben, why can't you just-" He paused, big glistening green eyes meeting deep brown ones. "Oh."

Diego tilted his head. "Oh? That's all you have to say?" He says flatly.

Klaus rolled his eyes and placed his head back down, only to feel a firm hand come down on his shoulder. He doesn't look up.

"So...Ben saw that whole thing?" His brother questioned.

That's what caused Klaus to pick his head back up and look his brother in the face.

Four's voice strained. "Y-yeah, he did."

Diego swallowed as he took in his brother's tear tracks. He hadn't noticed them right away. Not until the streetlights hit his brother just right. "I'm sorry...I should have done something- said something back there..." He trailed off.

"I was just…I was really confu-"

"It's fine." Klaus didn't give him a chance to finish.

"I'm not a hero. Never was." He tried to suppress  
a sob. "Surprise! I'm just the family disappointment." He stated flatly.

The lanky man threw up half-assed jazz hands, unenthusiastically and then dropped them back down at his sides.

Diego's heart clenched and he squeezed Klaus' shoulder hard enough, the leather of his glove creaked. "You've never been a disappointment to me, Klaus." Voice thick and grainy.

He looked down to avoid looking Klaus in the eyes, suddenly afraid of what he might say. Maybe he'd be deserving of whatever it was, he figured.

But he wasn't expecting his brother to start crying, again. When he looked back up, Klaus had his face buried in both his hands, shoulders heaving with every sob. Diego creased his brow at the sight.

Oh shit did he do that? The last thing he wanted to do was make his brother cry. Fuck.

Diego panicked as he reached over and pulled Klaus into a tight hug.

"I mean it." He mumbled, jaw clenched. "You are NOT a disappointment. Far from it."

Klaus shuttered against him. "Sure feels like it…"

He so badly wanted to believe Diego, but it was hard to when the world kept trying to prove otherwise. And God, that little bitch on the bike. She wasn't any help either.

"I always fuck everything up." His voice was low and raspy. "Now Ben is gone and you know what? He's better off. He shouldn't have to be stuck with me while the world explodes or whatever." Klaus let out a pained laugh.

There was a momentary silence, until someone could be heard around the corner and they froze up before Diego let go of his brother. Klaus looked disheartened.

He turned his head and listened carefully for a moment, holding a finger up to his brother, prompting for silence.

"Ah...it's just Luther. Sounds like he's talking to Claire." He whispered.

Luther could be heard in the phone booth talking, but they decided against eavesdropping.

When Diego turned his attention back towards his brother, he was staring at him. "Hey, aren't you trying to stop the apocalypse or something? You should get back." Klaus bit out flatly and almost coldly, unlike the eccentric brother he was so used to.

A chill ran up Diego's spine.

Two brought his legs up and draped his arms over the tops of them as he considered the man in front of him. He wasn't about to leave his brother alone, even if he wished for him to.

Silence followed them again. After a few minutes, Luther could be heard hanging the phone up and leaving the booth, footsteps slowly fading out of existence.

"Yeah well-" Diego pushed himself up and extended a hand out to his brother, who glanced up at him with a pained look. "If the world really does end...I wanna be there with you when it does."

Diego trailed off as Klaus hesitated before he gripped his hand like a lifeline and the bigger of them heaved the slighter one up. "And I'm sure Ben does too."

Klaus squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop them from stinging, to stop the tears and his brother wrapped him in another tight hug, fingers running through the curls at the base of his neck. He let out a choked sob, maybe a slight chuckle. It was hard to tell really.

"WE should get back, yeah?" Diego pulled away, looking his brother in the face, a genuine softness in his features and the corners of his mouth slightly turned up.

He watched him expectantly.

Klaus reached up to swipe his arm across his eyes to dry them and then smiled back at his older brother. "Yeah...okay, okay." He nodded.

"Good." Diego reached up and ruffled Klaus' curly hair as they made their way back to the front.

As soon as they reached the front doors, Klaus stopped right outside of them, fingers suddenly fidgeting nervously.

Diego shot him a concerned look. "If he tries to say anything, I'll step in. I promise." He pat Klaus on the arm, earning a nod in return and before they headed back inside the bowling alley, he slowly held his fist out to him.

Klaus looked at his hand hovering there a moment, a smile slowly spreaded across his face. He raised his own hand and bumped his fist into Diego's.

"Let's stop this apocalypse." Diego announced as they went inside.

Luther whipped his head around the moment he heard the doors open. "There you are."

He hesitated a moment before he spoke again.

"Alright, Where's Five?" His face plastered with a confused irritance only he could really pull off.

Diego shrugged. "I guess he left."

Luther creased his brow. "Oh, for the love of...where'd he go?"

"Didn't tell any of us, as usual." Two rolled his eyes.

"Well, we're not waiting around for him. The concert starts in thirty minutes."

Luther looked over at Klaus temporarily, taking him in, but didn't speak a word. When Four noticed, he shrunk down slightly and stayed close to Diego. He still felt somewhat vulnerable from earlier. And he only eased a bit when Allison smiled softly at him, taking a spot next to the giant.

Klaus glanced passed Luther to see Ben sitting in one of the chairs and it filled him with a quiet relief.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Diego locked eyes with Luther.

Luther slowly panned around to each of his siblings "Well, I think that, uh…" One started, then hesitated. "We go to the Icarus Theater."

"That's a location, not a plan." Two considered his brother a moment as Luther fell quiet.

"What? Is that all you got?" Diego glared incredulously at him.

"Look, you wanna be Number One, fine, but you're gonna have to get us on the same page..." His voice is serious and unwavering. "Because right now, we're all over the place."

The bigger of the two looked away from his brother, thoughtfully. "You're right. We need a plan."

Well no shit.

The cheering from the other families in the bowling alley rang out before a silence fell around them and the peace was disrupted by gunfire shortly after. People in red gas masks had filed into the building and civilians ran out screaming in an attempt to escape.

It took the siblings only seconds before they retreated to take cover, fully registering the situation, and Allison followed Luther as they hid behind one of the counters closest to them. Diego grabbed Klaus, pulling his brother hastily down with him behind the other. The medium yelped and immediately threw his hands over his ears as he ducked down further, alarming his brother temporarily before he looked around elsewhere.

"Who are these guys?!" Diego shouted over the chaos around them.

"Maybe they're here for that kid's birthday!" Klaus yelled. Diego gave him a look before Luther boomed a few feet away from them.

"No, I'm pretty sure they're here for us!"

After a few knives from Two, some bowling balls chunked by One, and Four throwing the poor kid's birthday cake for good measure, they took out a few of the gunmen...which lead to accidentally starting up "Saturday Night" by Bay City Rollers. The music didn't make the situation any less tense. If anything, it gave Klaus a mild headache.

Klaus peaked over the counter top, concerned splayed across his face. "They're blocking the exit!"

Diego yelled across the space towards their Number One. "So, what's the plan now, Luther?!"

Three swatted the larger man on the shoulder to get his attention, pointing out in front of them.

"The lanes, let's go!" He yells, authoritatively.

They made a run for it down the lanes, sliding themselves into the openings and despite being unseen by his siblings (sans Klaus) Ben made an attempt to keep watch, making sure they all escaped out the back door, before he exited himself.

The siblings stopped to take in the crisp night air and once they caught their breath, they headed toward the theater.

Diego took Klaus' shoulder and gave it a squeeze as they walked. "You okay, bro?"

Klaus slowed his pace enough to look at him. "Yeah...I'm good." He smiled, big and genuine. "I've got you here don't I?"

His brother gave him a perplexed expression and then he smiled softly back. "Of course."

They were unsure of how the rest of the night would play out, but they'd be there for each other and their family regardless of what happened. Ben planned on it too.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks for the read! Any and all kudos/comments are always appreciated!
> 
> If you wanna talk TUA with me ever, you can find me over at the-updog-academy on tumblr!


End file.
